A Railway Adventure.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 141, 10 November 1871, Page 6

A Railway Adventure.

A lawyer's office in summertime is by no means an agreeable place of sojourn. There is a prevailing sense of dryness and a lack of verdure. The only greenness perceptible is in the conduct of the clients, and in the green " ferret" with which the sheets of parchment are bound together.

The office of Messrs. Catchem and Eatem, of Spiders Inn, formed no exception to the general truth of this description. I had been their bond-slave or managing clerk for some time, and was seated in my prison one fine afternoon during the month of June, 186 —, bewailing my hard lot in the intervals of labor, in a somewhat depressed frame of mind. I rather suspect that I must have fallen into a doze, when I was suddenly aroused by the deep bass voice of my venerable superior, Mr. Catchem. " Mr. Hopkins," said the voice, " I find that I shall be unable to go down to Dedborough to complete that purchase of Mr. Ponsonby's, and therefore you will have to go. The appointment for completion is at ten o'clock on Thursday morning, so that you must leave town by the 5.15 train to-morrow afternoon, and sleep at Dedborough, ready for the next morning. The purchase money is paid into the London branch of Messrs. Musgrave's bank at Dedborough ; you will therefore only have to take a cheque with you for the amount, and get it cashed in the morning ready for the settlement. Come into my room tomorrow about four, and I will give you instructions. I am going across the square to Squeezem and Scrunchem's; back in half an hour."

Exit Mr. Catchem, and' up jumps Mr. Hopkins and executes a war dance of a jubilant and triumphant description, indicative of his delight at the prospect before him. The sparrow outside my window flew away in great disorder, evidently astonished at the indecorum of my behaviour, and only accustomed to the gravity of demeanour becoming an inn of court. Business over for the day, I walked home,to my lodgings in Lavender Crescent, Camberwell, still in the same state of exhilaration ; and after tea I packed a car-pet-bag ready for my country excursion. In the morning I arrayed myself with a degree of care befitting the importance of the occasion, and departed joyfully for town. The day dragged through at last; and punctually at 4 p.m. I knocked at Mr. Catchem's green-baize door, and was desired to enter.

" This is the conveyance, Mr. Hopkins," said that gentleman, " which you will see properly executed before you pay the purchase money ; and take care that all the title-deeds shown in the abstract are handed over to you at the same time. The money, as I told you, is at Messrs. Musgrave's bank in Dedborough, and here is a cheque for the amount, £4060. I cannot cross the cheque because you will have to pay in cash; so mind, if you please, that you are very careful of the cheque. The appointment for completion is at Mr. Upton's office in Dedborough, on Thursday. This £lO note is for your own expenses, for which you will account to me on your return. Be very careful, if you please, and lose no time in getting off. Good day.."

I returned my venerable superior's adieu with great alacrity, and shaking the dust of the office off my feet and my clothes, I hailed a' passing hansom, and was soon gleefully bowling off to the Great Northern Railway. In my private capacity I need hardly say that I did not ride much in cabs ; but on occasions like the present I felt that I represented the firm of C. &

E., and was determined that their dignity and official status should suffer no abatement at my hands. "Two bob, captain, please," said the jarvey when I got out. I observe, by the way, that cabmen generally salute gentlemen of doubtful exterior as " captain," which I suppose is intended as a delicate compliment. I paid him at once " like a gentleman," as he was good enough to assure me; for though I knew it was double his fare, I never baggie about the price when I am spending my employers' money.

Acting upon the same principle, I took a first-class ticket to Dedborough; and esconced myself in the most comfortable carriage I could find. In a short time the door of the carriage was opened and a lady entered in deep mourning and seated herself in an opposite division; soon afterwards we got under way, and were joyfully rattling out of the smoke and noise of the great Babylon into the pure air of the country. My companion, though still apparently a mere girl, was dressed in widow's weeds, or rather in that most becoming modification of them which is now prevalent, and in which one single beading of white crape edging the black bonnet does duty for the hideous old widow's cap. So much as I could see of her she was very pretty. Her complexion was perfectly pale, and she had large deep-grey eyes, which darkened in color at the outer edge of the iris,' where it merged into the deep black fringe of the eyelash. Her mouth was hidden by the broad band of double crape which edged her veil; but her lovely brown hair was displayed by her mite of a bonnet, and was coiled in massive lustrous wreaths behind her beautiful head. She made no affectation of deep grief; but her eyes had that curious benumbed appearance which you sometimes see in an animal which is stricken with some great pain. Sorrow always appears to me so sacred a thing, that I felt no inclination to make any effort towards the usual acquaintance of fellow-travellers, and accordingly devoted myself to my book. But some trifling courtesy broke the ice between us, and it seemed that my companion was anxious to obtain some information about her journey. "Was I going to Dedborough? and what time would the train get there ? Could I tell her of any hotel at which she could stay for a short time ? Would it be very expensive ? She apologised for asking these questions by saying that she had lived for many years in France, and was entirely ignorant of England and its ways. Her beautiful eyes filled with tears as she spoke of France, and I could not help feeling for one so young who had suffered so much.

I gave her all the information I could upon the subject, and in return she told me some particulars of her story. She had lately come from Tours, where she had lost her husband after a year's marriage ; and being left almost penniless, her friends had persuaded her to seek for a situation as governess in England, instead of, as she would have preferred, m Erance. This place she had at length found, as she hoped, in the family of a gentleman living near Dedborough; she was to sleep at that town for one night, and to be fetched to the Cedars, her new home, in the morning. She feared an English hotel would be very costly after the French ones to which she was accustomed. Would there be a salon in which ladies could sit, or must she take her meals in her bedroom. I told her in reply that I intended to have a sitting-room for my own use (which, by the way, was a very sudden intention on my part), and that if she would brighten it with her presence during her evening meal, it would give me very sincere pleasure. She didn't know. Might she do so ? Would it be quite en regie for a lady

to do so ? If she really might—l assured her that she need not be uneasy on that score, and I felt really glad that it was in my power to act in some sort as her protector. Duty is delightful when it assumes the form of taking a lovely girl-widow under one's protecting wing.

I found the Blue Crocodile, which was the house that I had been advised to stay at, one of the pleasant, old-fashioned, comfortable houses now, alas, becoming scarcer every year—in which the buxom landlady receives one as an old friend, and caters for one's comfort with kind solicitude. My companion would have nothing but tea, and, seated at the tea-table, she looked more beautiful and child-like than ever. There was a piano in our room, and as I sat musing in the gloaming, my companion seated herself before it, and in an absent mood struck a few chords. Gradually she seemed moved to more effort, and in a few minutes the plaintive strains of Mozart's " Pro peccatis " rose upon the air. The melancholy solemnity of the prayer seemed to harmonise with her state of sorrow, and she sang the words with heart-felt pathos. Like Rubini, she appeared to have " tears in her voice," which breathed the very spirit of passionate sorrow. I sat entranced in a dream of bliss; and wished that I could sit and listen to such music for ever. What a life, I thought, encompassed by such sights and sounds and fragrance, compared to the wretched drudgery of my own ! All too soon it came to an end. My fellow-traveller soon closed the piano, and with a simple " good night," left me to build what castles I might in her absence. She had left her handkerchief on the ground. I picked it up and pressed it to my lips, and as I did so I saw a beautifully embroidered " Marie " in one corner of it, which I thought a charming name. I kept it as long as I dared, and then rang for the chambermaid to take it up to her.

In the morning I breakfasted alone, Madame de Fontanges (for that I found was her name) sending me her compliments, and saying that she preferred to take her coffee in her own room. I determined to make the most of mj day; but first I placed my pocket-book, containing the important eheque, in my travellingbag ; and having carefully locked it, I locked the bag itself into one of the drawers of the wardrobe in my bed-room, and placed the key in my pocket. It was a charming morning, and as I started off to walk to " Foxholes," the place which our client had purchased, I couldn't help devoutly wishing that my lines had fallen in such pleasant places as the country around Dedborough. Having spent the day very pleasantly, I got back to Dedborough late in the afternoon, indulging a vague hope that my charming fellow-travaller might not have yet left; but alas ! I was doomed to disappointment, for my friend the waiter informed me with cheerful alacrity that Madame de Fontanges had left in her friend's carriage directly after lunch, leaving for me a message of compliments and grateful thanks. Sic transit !

My first care was to adjourn to my bedroom, to see after the safety of the all-im-portant cheque. All safe I found it, and immediately transferred the pocket-book containing it to the breast-pocket of my coat, as I did not intend to leave the house again until I went to attend the appointment for the completion of the purchase.

Next morning I started off to complete the business which had brought me down; but first I called at Messrs. Musgrave's bank to cash the cheque, as we could not well ask the vendor to take our cheque.

(To he concluded in our next.)